Paradise for a Sinner Read Free

checked shirt over the sports bra and tied it at the waist. Sure, she’d had a nip and a tummy tuck after giving birth to the triplets, but she worked hard in the gym to keep her waist slim and sexy. Joe appreciated that. Running after all those children kept her trim, too, he guessed.
    As Nell drew a comb through her short, practical hair, the doorbell sounded its mellow chimes. Macho, their oversized ranch dog, began barking in a mean basso that only fooled strangers. Quickly, she glossed her mouth with a little pink lipstick. No time for makeup. Shoving her feet into flip-flops, she headed to the bedroom door.
    Joe stopped her. “Nell, I just had a frisson, me.”
    “No time for the cute Cajun routine, Joe. Someone let Macho in, and he’ll scare Teddy to death, not to mention whoever is at the front door.”
    “We should stay in bed like we planned and not go down there. I got this bad feeling it’s going to be another one of those off-seasons, the kind with bad problems we have to fix.”
    “Are you telling me the great Joe Dean Billodeaux is afraid to face an off-season?” Nell raised her eyebrows at him.
    “No way. Okay, we move on the count of three.” They went through the doorway together.

Chapter Two
    From the top of the stairs, Joe and Nell gazed down on chaos. Macho, huge, yellow-furred, curly-tailed, black-muzzled, and white-pawed, dragged Teddy’s red wheelchair back and forth across the shining burgundy tiles before the front door. The boy, strapped into his chair, had a tight grip on the dog’s wide leather collar and a large smile on his small face. The mutt stopped barking and paused to snuffle along the sill. The bell rang again setting off more furious woofing and pacing. The people on the other end of the onslaught had no way of knowing Macho would embrace them, paws on their shoulders, and slurp their faces once he got loose.
    “Teddy, let go of the dog’s collar!” Nell cried. “He’ll tip you over. How did Macho get in here?” Fearlessly entering the maelstrom, she headed rapidly down the stairs. The toe of her flip-flop caught the edge of the runner, but Joe grabbed her elbow before she tumbled.
    Adam’s broad face looked up apologetically. “My bad, Mrs. Joe. He was scratching the H out of your kitchen door so I let him inside. He went right over to the kid to get his ears rubbed. No problem. They were getting along great. Then the bell rang, and they both took off. Want me to kick the mutt out?”
    “Just put him in the kitchen and close the door for now.”
    “Aaah, we was having fun,” Teddy said as Adam wrested the collar from his grip and attempted to drag the dog to the kitchen. Macho dug in his rear paws. His claws scraped the waxy surface of the tiles. Finally, the cornerback grasped the canine under the forelegs, pressed him to his broad chest, and walked the dog to the other room to be confined. The barks turned to pleading whimpers.
    “That’s better,” Nell said. “This can’t be the Rev or Mintay. Macho recognizes them. Besides, they are dealing with their own situation this morning. Knowing them, they’d come to help anyway.” Nell placed her hand on the deadbolt to open the door.
    “Wait.” Joe peered out a curtained sidelight. “Airport limo. How did it get up the drive?”
    “Sorry,” Adam said, this time hanging his head and showing them the part in his outrageous mane of frizzy, black curls that extended well below his shoulders. “The guy said their need to see you was most urgent, his exact words. I buzzed them in since you were—um, busy upstairs. I mean we all know how you like to spend the first day of your off-season. I shouldn’t have come.”
    Nell looked at her husband with astonishment and measured her words carefully in front of Teddy. “You told the team what we do to celebrate the off-season?”
    “Might have slipped out,” Joe admitted and stepped out of the range of her fist. “Let me get the door in case it’s some new